


and in the name of hope

by layerto



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Pre-island events, SDR2 Spoilers, descriptions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 06:06:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3370652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/layerto/pseuds/layerto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And as he gazes to the cloudy sunset sky with dizzying, hazy gray eyes, he hopes and despairs for the moment he has the woman wrapped around his fingertip.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and in the name of hope

It all began when I looked into deep, crimson eyes.

 

* * *

 

 _Step, step._  
His sneakers quietly patter across cracked pavement, the sounds of rocks and debris crunching under his shoes. The roads are desolate and left in ruins - rather, the whole world was approaching this disastrous scene. This road, every other road, the city, the world - _all of it -_

It all fell into despair.

Yet, there was one who prevailed.  
Komaeda Nagito. He breathed, lived, desired for hope - in the belief that his entity was made for this purpose. His life was a teetering seesaw of good and bad luck, left in a neverending whirlpool of uncertain (mis)fortunes. Why, he was blessed with the opportunity to see hope itself flourish and bloom into an Absolute, Astonishing Hope - well, it could be dubbed many things. But no matter what it was called, hope would always prevail - it would win.  
However, the world was in a state of ruin. From the works of a single girl, she'd singlehandedly thrown the world into despair, plummeting it into a dark abyss. Riots, terrorism, kidnapping, and the worst of the worst scenarios - they all came true. Enoshima Junko made her dreams come true and watched the world suffer yet indulge in despair, eating itself away until it perished into nothing. Kicking back and watching the show - she truly enjoyed it. As for Komaeda, he hated - no, detested Enoshima Junko. The thought of her sickened him to his stomach, and even hearing her name would make him feel the need to throw up. It was disgusting, that person.  
Enoshima Junko was who he wanted to rid of - but to be blunt, he wanted to destroy her with his own hands. Murder, to be exact.

To think that someone would do such a thing to the world. However, now was the time for hope to spread its seeds and display how powerful it was. In the darkest times, hope will flourish. That was how it worked, after all.

And to take his first steps in changing the world, he found them.  
Former students of Kibougamine, the few who were still alive yet despairing. He'd encountered them by chance (how lucky), and pretended to be one of them. How easy was it to fit in with them! A simple 'I'm one of you,' and he was accepted easily. This is where his plan begun - to eradicate the despair left in their hearts of the remaining Kibougamine students. That would be the first step to a blooming, beautiful hope. Ah, I can see it already. The moment hope comes back, it would shine before everyone's eyes, a saviour sent from the heavens, like an angel...  
"Alright..."

Hopping over a large hunk of debris before him, he made sure to head there.  
Yes, the place where the despairing students would all meet.

 

* * *

 

"I'm sorry I'm late."

Komaeda pops through the door of a rundown building, he beamed at the others already within the vicinity. He felt cold, dead glares at him, and for a second, he felt like he was acting too suspicious. Closing the door behind him, his smile never left his lips. _Stay calm, and remember that you're one of them. Be friendly, and don't forget to smile!_  
"Oh, what's with the cold looks? Are you really that angry at me?" The moment he finished speaking, the piercing glares softened, and most of them had gone back to what they were discussing previously. "You threw us off track," a girl spoke curtly. She looked at him with empty brown eyes, her bloody-red hair dusty. "Honestly, this is why I hate guys like you. I prefer sweeter, nicer girls like Hiyoko." As she spoke, a blonde girl in a ripped, tangerine kimono came up to her and grasped onto the other's hand, pressing a chaste kiss to her hand. "You're so flattering, Big Sister Mahiru..."  
A hand slammed on the rotten tabletop in the centre of the small shack, a silver haired beauty in pigtails glaring at the others with flaming red optics. "Don't get off track. Continue." Retracting her hand, the redhead from earlier began to speak.

"Are you asking me? Why don't you explain it yourself? I don't feel like it."

"..."

The atmosphere grew heavier with each passing second.  
Eventually, the two began to quietly quarrel again, but the quarreling turned into an argument, and eventually everyone in the room was yelling at each other, save for Komaeda. He was astonished at how disgustingly despairing everyone appeared to be. That is, until the building's door slammed open and silence ensued. A man with long, ebony hair stepped in, gazing up at all of them with deep, crimson eyes.  
When those oculars silently looked to Komaeda's gray gaze, he knew -

\- he didn't like this person.

 

* * *

 

Everyone left, and all there was left was Komaeda and the man.  
They quietly sat across from each other, not uttering a single word. Komaeda had no idea of what to think about this person, and he wasn't sure of what to say about him. He was quite the ambiguous case - he didn't say much, and Komaeda liked that about him. However, he knew he was a part of their team - or at least, said he was. It appeared to be that he worked on his own, and only piggybacked on the others for information and left them in the dust when he didn't need them. That was quite an admirable skill to have. _I should say something,_ Komaeda thought, but what could he say? The presence of this man was so menacing, so frightening that he wasn't sure if he should say anything at all. It was almost like if he said anything wrong, his head would be wringing on a noose the next second.  
He gulped saliva nervously, and parted his lips hesitantly, his voice choking. All that came out was a quiet noise, but the man didn't respond at all.  
Komaeda stood up and saw that a crimson gaze followed him.

"Hey..."

"..."

"Do you know what is the most effective way to create despair?"

The stare lasted for a few more seconds, a minute, and maybe even longer - he could've even said that he stared at him for an hour. Eventually, the man looked down with closed eyes and no response. Now, this was just awkward. Komaeda was about to silently take a seat on the floor again next to him when he finally heard a voice speak again.

"How boring."

"I thought that you would ask something less boring. Answer that yourself."

He swallowed his fears.  
Deciding to not sit down (in fear that he might tackle him), he took a few steps forward as he placed slender, pale fingers to the dirty tabletop, a map of the city laid atop. "Hope..."  
The word escaped his lips, the single syllable slipping out like a wonderful melody. It was his favourite word, and hopefully the man didn't catch wind of that. "Hope is the most effective way of creating despair. It blinds humanity with happiness and dreams, but people will become ignorant and overambitious. They fall into despair, like penguins that believe they can fly. They will never fly. No matter how much they cry for salvation, God never reaches down to save them. It's hopeless. It's despair inducing... right?" He turned his head slowly to the man with a cheerful smile, seeing that he had no response at all. So, he pretended. He pretended that he was praised for his answer, like a teacher praising their student for achieving a good grade. 'Oh, you did great!', sort of response.

Not that someone like him would ever do that.

 

* * *

 

Though his plan was to join those in despair, perhaps he overestimated his abilities. He was dragged into many situations that he knew was coming - but perhaps not as prepared for as he thought he would be. Murder. Terrorism. Torture, even. And it all got worse from there. The first time he'd plunged a knife into a man's chest was odd - he didn't dislike it, but for a moment, he saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes before his lifeless body slumped over his shoulder. But, he knew this was the only way. _That's right,_ he told himself, _I'm only destroying hope to create more despair - and with that, true hope will be born within the darkness. This is simply a step towards that goal._  
He told this to himself countless times, in fact, so many that it didn't matter to count anymore. The words became less meaningful, more useless. Eventually, he had no remorse - listening to someone's cries were like music to him.

_'No, no! Don't do this.'_

_'How could you do something like this?'_

_'You're terrible.'_

All of those words - he took pleasure in them.  
Please, please keep telling me those terrible, despairing words. If I fall into despair on my own, wouldn't that help as well? That way, I'll find hope in myself as well. He held this hope high in his heart. Though his hands were blood-stained, and his sins were heavy, it was all for the sake of hope. That was all that mattered.

One day, he finally saw that man once more. He never appeared often, but perhaps that was what made the reunion so much more special. He took a seat next to him on the side of the road, looking up to a cloudy sunset. "Oh, I'm glad to see you again," Komaeda beams, turning to the man with his brightest smile. No response, of course. But, there was something so comforting about pouring all of his feelings into someone who had no desire to respond. He would listen to everything he had to say, and wouldn't have much to say about it. Sure, he said that his conversations were boring, but it was the truth! Any conversation that Komaeda sparked up was destined to be boring and meaningless. That was how it was meant to be. Meaningless trash spewing from his lips.  
"Do you know of Enoshima Junko?" Komaeda sparks the question as he solemnly looks to the ground, though his smile still existent. "I want to know her. I want to meet her. Sometimes, I hope that she truly didn't die."

"..."

Komaeda stood up, on his two weak feet.

"I want to tell her I hate her with every fiber of my being. That I've been aspiring my whole life to wrap my hands around her neck and crush her fragile body with every ounce of strength I have. I want to dig my nails into her skin and watch her blood spill as she writhes in agony. I want the whole world to see her suffer, to see her despair. To see someone as terrible as her lose to someone like me. I'm disgusting, I'm _terrible -_ I'm the worst of the worst for believing such a thing is morally right to do. But, I can't help it. I want to wring her neck on a noose and slowly cut her to pieces. To even bathe in her blood would be an honour."

_Inhale._

"Ahaha... what is this? I feel all warm just thinking about seeing her horrified expression and hearing her scream and cry for help, but she'll be tied at the wrists and gagged. If I do this, I can finally understand her despair and use it for myself - I want to feel that despair. If I embrace it in my arms, will hope come and save me? I believe that it will - the more I despair, the more the chances rise."

"You know, I'm really, really lucky. Good Luck isn't my title for nothing."

"I believe in my luck. And I believe that I will one day manipulate that despair and watch as the greatest hope extends beyond our vision. Doesn't that make you excited?"

"...haha, I hate that woman so much. I want to kill her."

He drops to his knees, his legs failing to hold him up. A quiet laughter escapes his lips, cruel and disgusting. His usual smile is no longer amicable, but rather twisted and sinful -

\- and as he gazes to the cloudy sunset sky with dizzying, hazy gray eyes, he hopes and despairs for the moment he has the woman wrapped around his fingertip.

 

 

_All of it._

_All of it, for the sake of hope._

 

 

"...how boring."


End file.
